They all gave the same one word answer - What answer did they give?

Question

Here's a slightly different, fairly easy one.

Three men travel for almost a day across an unknown distance to a meeting point. One travelled by car, another by horse and the other by boat. When they arrived they were all asked how they had been able to reach the meeting place. They all gave different answers, but only one word was heard.

What word(s) did they speak?

Hmmm perhaps the ending should be "They all gave different answers, but only one word was heard." This eliminates some of the ambiguity, I mean they quite simply could have said "Travel" or something similar. — Greg, Jul 07 '16 at 05:35
I've put this puzzle on hold as too broad; I think, in this case, that the vagueness around the word "how" allows for too many answers, all of which would nominally be correct. Looking at the answers below, nearly all of them fit, with different interpretations of the word "how." — , Jul 07 '16 at 08:13
@Emrakul I've updated the question to try and remedy the problem but I completely agree that the question was far too broad. Regretfully, as I'd admitted previously, I clearly hadn't put enough thought into this puzzle. I apologise to the submitters of valid answers below who's answers may have been invalidated by my update(s). Greg - thanks for the suggestion. I've snatched your wording. — Brent Hackers, Jul 07 '16 at 08:28
@BrentHackers That's fair! I think this edit definitely helps with a decent part of the broadness, too. I'll leave it to voters in the VTRO queue, since I'm on the fence about whether it's still too broad, but yeah, this helps. And it's alright, it happens! A closed question here or there doesn't hurt. — , Jul 07 '16 at 08:32

Jonathan Allan · Answer 1 · 2023-08-11T18:42:56.323

90

They all said

"Mustang", giving the brand of the car and boat and the breed of horse

Note: The question at the time of posting was (emphasis mine):

Three men travel for almost a day across an unknown distance to a meeting point. One travelled by car, another by horse and the other by boat. When they arrived they were all asked how they had reached the meeting place and, without lying, they all gave the same one word answer.

edited Aug 11 '23 at 18:42

answered Jul 04 '16 at 10:24

Jonathan Allan

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Damn. No. But I love it. Can' fault it. I clearly should have spent more time on this one. +1 – Brent Hackers Jul 04 '16 at 11:29
12

This should be accepted as answer since it's one word as requested. – newzad Jul 04 '16 at 15:31
1

@nikamed The answer was given verbally. My answer is three words, but they would all sound exactly the same. – LeppyR64 Jul 04 '16 at 15:35
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This answer is superior since the words are homonyms instead of merely homophones. – March Ho Jul 05 '16 at 06:48
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@MarchHo While I like the answer, I disagree that it is better. It is actually exploiting a not too well defined question, but by using a Name you can fit anything. f.e. "They all said Hobo", because that's what they call a "means-of-transport". They all said "Boat", because that was the name of the horse and the nickname of the rather large car. etc. etc. – BmyGuest Jul 05 '16 at 07:13
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@BmyGuest Your argument isn't as strong as presented, since the strength of the answers stems from the fact that the names are not merely arbitrary, but are in fact both popular brands of cars and boats. – March Ho Jul 05 '16 at 07:15
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I agree with BmyGuest. Particularly because while a Mustang is a univerally well known car, the same can't be said for the boat brand. – GreenAsJade Jul 06 '16 at 01:19
This one is better and more subtle ;D – ABcDexter Jul 07 '16 at 06:02
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This is not better-- read the the question. "Different answers but only one word was heard" – Jul 07 '16 at 14:55
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@ev3commander, I think the question was worded differently when this answer was written. – Gareth McCaughan Jul 08 '16 at 23:21

LeppyR64 · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-04T15:39:11.163

83

They all said

/rōd/
{rowed, road, rode}

Horseback:

I rode a horse.

Car:

My car travelled on the road.

Boat:

I rowed the boat.

edited Jul 04 '16 at 15:39

answered Jul 04 '16 at 10:23

LeppyR64

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Yep. You got it. +1 – Brent Hackers Jul 04 '16 at 11:30
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@BrentHackers so you were looking for a homophone. – Oliphaunt Jul 04 '16 at 15:47
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I.e. they didn't all give the same one-word answer. – LarsH Jul 06 '16 at 18:11
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@LarsH Yes they did. Read it out loud. – LeppyR64 Jul 06 '16 at 18:12
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@LeppyR64: Just because it sounds the same doesn't mean it's the same answer. – LarsH Jul 06 '16 at 18:13
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@LarsH What the OP says goes though – Insane Jul 06 '16 at 23:03
@Insane: I agree, what the OP says about the intended answer goes: That is the intended answer. What I was questioning is the correctness of the question. – LarsH Jul 07 '16 at 14:30
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@LarsH It sounded like you were questioning my answer. Sorry about that. – LeppyR64 Jul 07 '16 at 14:40
Sorry my comment was unclear. – LarsH Jul 07 '16 at 15:04

score 41 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 04 '16 at 14:04

41

They all said:

alone

Valid if not 100% useful.

answered Jul 04 '16 at 14:04

jaynabonne

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Not a homonym but clever. I like it. +1 – Brent Hackers Jul 04 '16 at 14:06

deworde · Answer 4 · 2016-07-05T17:14:22.010

15

They all answered

"Ferry"...

The car drives onto the ferry, the horse rides over on it, and the man who went by boat simply walked onto it

edited Jul 05 '16 at 17:14

answered Jul 04 '16 at 13:47

deworde

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score 15 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 04 '16 at 16:07

15

Note: Since the question didn't mention the homonym requirement and I only noticed the tag after reading other answers, the following are not homonyms.

I think there are lots of answers that could work here, but I'll go with this.

They all said:

Quickly

Alternately:

Slowly

Alternately:

Noneya

Alternately:

Tired

answered Jul 04 '16 at 16:07

Hack-R

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What is "Noneya"? – Lightness Races in Orbit Jul 04 '16 at 18:29
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@LightnessRacesinOrbit It's the oddest thing you will ever get in any answer :/ – ABcDexter Jul 04 '16 at 18:54
@LightnessRacesinOrbit "Noneya" is slang for "None of your business." http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=noneya – Gracie Jul 06 '16 at 17:26
Never heard it before. – Lightness Races in Orbit Jul 06 '16 at 18:16

Laurent Duval · Answer 6 · 2016-07-06T07:43:08.690

12

Puns are allowed? They all said:

'mare, mare, meer-mer.

The car driver who went through a

'mare because the traffic jam was painful (short slang for nightmare, related to a very unpleasant or frustrating experience),

the horse rider who rode

a female horse (mare),

and the sailor, speaking a germanic (in some German regions, in Dutch) or french language in which a large body of water allowing a boat ("sea" or "lake") is sometimes called

"meer" or "mer".

edited Jul 06 '16 at 07:43

answered Jul 04 '16 at 12:50

Laurent Duval

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Well it certainly is a creative answer. – Brent Hackers Jul 04 '16 at 12:52
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Though in Dutch, that actually means "lake" (it's a 'false friend' to the German word). – CompuChip Jul 05 '16 at 07:43
@CompuChip Well, "the other by boat", could be on a lake too. Recorrecting – Laurent Duval Jul 06 '16 at 07:41

score 11 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 04 '16 at 15:21

11

With your wording, the answer could be

traveling.

After all, they all

did travel to get there.

answered Jul 04 '16 at 15:21

Mithical

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That was my first thought as well. – Wildcard Jul 05 '16 at 23:43
Agreed with your 1st option. – Overmind Jul 06 '16 at 11:40

score 6 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 04 '16 at 15:53

6

Also not the intended answer, but they certainly arrived

tired

because they

travelled almost a day.

answered Jul 04 '16 at 15:53

user1252434

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score 6 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 05 '16 at 12:47

6

Of course they all arrived...

Safely.

Because after all...

That is what they assumed the question was about - not how they got there, but how they were personally.

answered Jul 05 '16 at 12:47

Zibbobz

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score 4 · Answer 10 · answered Jul 04 '16 at 15:18

4

Not the intended answer, but it could also be

North, or any other arbitrary direction.

answered Jul 04 '16 at 15:18

Morgan G

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Sort of, but that doesn't answer the question how... – Cullub Jul 06 '16 at 03:09

score 3 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 05 '16 at 14:47

Despite there being an accepted answer, I can't resist suggesting another word:

"together".

It fails the intention of the homonym/homophone tag as well as the spirit of the question, but nothing in the question directly contradicts the possibility of

the men travelling along a canal path to a town hall or pub or other "meeting point" -- a place where people meet in general.

They all gave the same one word answer - What answer did they give?

11 Answers11